The House that Built Love
by CobaltCoral
Summary: Sonic had found a nice piece of land but can barely afford it. What happens when Amy steps in to try and help with the building of a new house?   Credit and a big thank you to Dr.Cat for betareading the story.
1. The beginning

**In this and every chapter and for the rest of the story, I do not own the characters used. Nor do I own the Wii and Xbox 360 consoles and games mentioned. They are property of their respective creators. ****Thank you for listening (or reading, whatever), and enjoy the story!**

Sonic unlocked the key to his house and opened the door. There, he was greeted by the silence and darkness of the empty home. He flicked a switch right to his left and lights flashed on. The house brightened up and he could see everything inside, or at least the living room that was in the front.

The big couch that could seat at least six people was currently empty in front of the TV. The two chairs positioned on the sides of the sofa also faced the big flat-screen; a blue Wii console right next to it.

Sonic sighed contently and drifted to his couch where he collapsed. He checked the games he had, wanting to pick which one to play. He chose Super Smash Bros. Brawl and picked up a Wii Remote and Nunchuck.

He started to play, enjoying watching the character of himself punch, kick and beat up on the likes of Mario, Kirby and others.

Interrupting him from the game was his phone. It rang out from the kitchen, asking to be picked up. Sonic shrugged and trotted over to it and turning it on.

"Hello?"

"Hey Sonic!" A high-pitched, and very loud, voice answered.

"Oh, hey Amy. What's up?"

"Just got done kicking the hell out of someone I don't even know."

Sonic laughed. "Online?"

"Yep, Xbox Live. I was playing Mortal Kombat."

"Wow Amy, I didn't know you played games like that." He said.

"Come on Sonic. I just got myself the Xbox a couple weeks ago."

"I know. But I didn't know you liked anything rated M or above. I thought you said that those games were for... you know."

"Oh, whatever. I've changed a bit. What have you been doing?"

"Just got back home from a small meeting."

"With who?"

"Wasn't important at all. Just about some law that isn't really that big a deal anyways. Not many people have gone against it in the past. Now, with a punishment, it pretty much eliminates dumping into lakes."

"Nice. You know what you need?"

"Yes. A good night's sleep? I know, I sound awful. Just tired today for some reason."

"No. You need a date with me."

"Not really," Sonic said as he rolled his eyes.

"Ok fine. How about you come over to my place, though? You haven't been here in a while."

"OK, sure. I'll be right over." Sonic hung up and ran as fast as he could.

As Amy had expected, she heard the doorbell ring before she could even put the phone down.

"Hey!" Sonic said when Amy opened her front door.

"Hey Sonic, I'm glad you could make it over."

"OK, so what's going on?"

"Well, just finishing a match of M.K. You can watch if you want."

"OK, I will." Sonic sat down on a chair next to the couch Amy was sitting on.

Amy, although saying she was finishing up a match, just started one. Sonic decided not to say anything, though. He was interested to see what Mortal Kombat was as he had heard so much about it.

It was kind of what he thought it to be, a really bloody fighting game. Two characters stood at the sides of the screen to start the fight. Once started, Amy and whoever her opponent was began to duke it out. They threw punches and kicked and everything, with blood spurting a lot of the time. Sometimes one of them would make a good enough hit for an X-ray vision to occur that graphically showed the skeleton being broken.

Sonic had to say it looked really fun despite being gory, but he wasn't worried about that. "So, no really personal information is shared online?" He asked.

"No, not at all. You only do as much as you want. And there's not many opportunities on Live to blow it and for everyone to know who you are or this or that." Amy answered, for what seemed like the 10th time. "You choose a GamerTag, which is pretty much your online penname. Mine is ThornyRose17."

Since Amy had gotten her Xbox 360, she loved it, and thought that Sonic would too if he tried it. So with simple conversations, she tried to get Sonic to buy the system and then go online to play with her.

"OK."

"Have you gotten yourself an Xbox 360 yet?"

"No."

"I think you should, Sonic. The games on it are great. The graphics are pretty good, and the online service is superior to anything you've ever played before.

"Maybe. I like the service I get with that Mo Games website. There aren't any multiplayer online games there."

"Oh, now I definitely recommend you get an Xbox!" Amy proclaimed.

"Maybe in our new house," Sonic seemed to sigh dreamily.

"What are you talking about by 'new house?'"

"My new house. Never mind."

Amy pushed and pushed Sonic for an explanation until he finally gave in.

"Fine. Well..." And then it all came flying out in one quick blurt, "I've been closing in on a piece of land that I really like and am thinking of having somebody put up a house there and then living there and sell the one I have now."

"Wow... And how long have you been thinking of this?"

"I've wanted a new house for months now. But I only found this land while on a run a few weeks ago. That's what started it all."

"Wow... How much land is it?"

"I heard it was less than six acres."

"Sonic..." Amy blinked, "You know you could easily put up a mansion there."

"Yeah, it's kind of why I like the land. I've always wanted a little more space."

"A little more. If you put a good sized house to fit that kind of land, you could build a mansion that would make even Rouge jealous, although she'd never admit it."

Sonic laughed and nodded. "But anyways, back to reality," he said.

"How much does it cost?" Amy pushed.

"The land? About 1.3 million Mobians."

"Wow, that's a lot. Can you afford it? Cause after all, it seems as though you like the land."

"I do. And I think I could afford it. But I don't think I'd have too much money left, especially cause I'd have to pay for the house to be built as well."

"Yeah I know what you mean. But I think you'd make it look really nice."

"Well, thanks. But money is the issue here."

Amy sighed and started to think of stuff she could do to help her hero.

"OK, I think I better get going now, I've stayed too long, said too much."

"Not at all. I'm happy to know all that."

And with that, Sonic left.


	2. Land, Plans, and is there Love?

It was about 3:00 PM. The sun was shining high in the sky, lighting up her place through the glass of the windows. The house was quiet except for the occasional clanking sound Amy's knife made when it connected with her plate as she cut through the chicken she was eating.

The phone ringing broke the silence; something she got up to answer right away.

"Hello?"

"Hey Amy. I just bought the land!" Sonic quickly said.

"Great Sonic!"

"Yeah, I can afford it, but hiring a builder to build a house from scratch will cost a little more then I want."

"Oh."

"So I've decided I'm going to hold off and save up some money and live in my current house."

"OK, sounds like a plan."

"Yeah. So, what are you up to?"

"Dinner."

"Oh, sorry to interrupt."

"No worries, I'm happy to talk."

"Well OK, that's all I really had to say, though. So I'll let you go finish dinner now."

"Wait Sonic,"

"Yeah?"

"You know, if you wanted to, I could, um, help you build a house from scratch. I'd be happy to help in any way I could, and I'll put in some money."

"Wow... Thank you Amy. You don't know how much that means. I would be honored if you wanted to help create a house."

"No worries, I'm just happy I can do something for you. How about tomorrow morning I go to your house? You can show me the land and we can start the plans."

"OK Amy sounds good. Thank you again. Bye."

They both hung up.

Amy smiled as she put the phone down and started to finish her food. After she was done she took a shower and went to bed, expecting a long day tomorrow.

The next morning, the sun was just rising over the horizon and the clear, cloudless sky was taking on an orange color. That's when a knock to Sonic's door startled the blue hedgehog awake. He awoke with a jump and landed with a thud beside his bed.

"Oh crap, I forgot she was coming over this morning." Sonic slapped himself in a failed attempt to fully wake himself up.

He rushed to make his bed and make the house look all right as Amy knocked another time. He gave up and just answered the door. "Hello. Thank you for coming."

"No problem!" Amy exclaimed happily.

"OK, so. Would you like a bite to eat or a drink before we get started? Coffee?"

"Hmm, actually, coffee isn't a bad idea."

"OK, I'll be right back."

Sonic went into his house to fix her up a cup. He allowed the pink hedgehog into his current house, to which she accepted and sat down on his living room couch. The blinds were still closed, so the house was not very lit. Amy decided to turn the lights on. She flicked a switch on one of the walls and lights flashed on. The house looked a lot better.

Sonic came back with two cups of coffee, he asked her if she liked anything in it. She shook her head. Sonic gave Amy one of the two cups and began to talk.

"OK," He said, sipping the coffee, "So, have you seen what I'm thinking the finished product might look like?" Amy shook her head.

Sonic walked down his hallway and came back with a large piece of paper. Once, he opened it up, Amy saw the big project he was taking on.

The house he wanted to build was huge. Though from the picture she couldn't see how far back the house went, it was very wide. He was defiantly looking for a mansion look to his house. The front of the house had decorations pasted onto it. There were three triangular roofs on top to finish the luxury house off.

"Wow, it looks nice." Amy wondered what she had gotten herself into.

"Thank you."

"Yeah, are you going to have a basement?"

"Yes. So we'll have to do some digging."

"Alright, let's go out to the land."

Sonic walked Amy outside of his neighborhood and into an even quieter area.

It was about 45 minutes by walking, but it was well worth it when Amy saw the land Sonic had wanted so badly. It was a huge, beautiful plot of land. A line of trees, which were separated by a yard or two each, lined what Amy supposed to be the property line. After the line of trees in front, it seemed like the area was a bit more forested, but she couldn't tell how much.

"Wow Sonic." She looked over at her hero, "You really outdid yourself here. This is going to be a really nice house."

"Yeah? Thanks."

The two walked onto the land and Sonic tried to explain some of the dimensions he was going for with the house. Amy knew the house was going to be big, but what she heard from Sonic was enormous, and yet he'd still have a nice backyard at least.

Sonic checked Amy's face to make sure he wasn't overwhelming her with everything he was saying in a short time. But he wasn't, Amy's expression stayed the same throughout, which surprised the hedgehog, who was overwhelming himself a bit.

After talking about the size and shape of the house, the two exchanged light conversation on the details, including jokes about the exterior design. Afterwards, the two decided to leave it alone for a while and went to have a meal.

They got into the city and checked out all of their options. Many of the nicer places were closed with the time it was about 9:30 AM. The few open restaurants were fast food chains, which they both agreed they weren't in the mood for. Deciding it best to look elsewhere, they started wandering.

Before they even knew where they were they found a brunch place.

Realizing it didn't seem like much else was available they tried the place out.

An hour and a half later they couldn't believe what they'd stumbled into. The place amazed them. Sonic had a nice serving of pancakes and Amy waffles.

After talking about the enjoyment of their meal, they walked back to Sonic's house.

Sonic and Amy decided it best they look up what materials were needed to build the base of a house, and how to do it. It took them a little bit to finally find what they were looking for, but they found it. After they finished calculating exactly what they needed and how much, they chose to order it via telephone.

"OK Amy," Sonic said as he put the phone down, "I've got some bad news, some bad news and some good news."

"How about the bad news first." Amy said.

"They don't have what we need in stock."

Amy wasn't too happy to hear that. "Ok, good news now."

"We're off for two days at least!"

"Bad news now, how much worse can this get?"

"It will take them two days to get it in."

After that, they chose to just have a fun day, watching TV, talking and then bring in pizza later that day.

At least they were going to enjoy their off days.


	3. You Have to Start Somewhere

Sonic watched as a big truck backed it's way onto his land. After it stopped, the driver hit a button on the inside of his vehicle that made the truck dump all it had out. Sonic thanked the man and then went back to his house to call Amy.

It was about noon and the sun was bright and strong. It was unusually hot outside today and Sonic was wondering how much they were going to be able to do under the heat. The blue hedgehog checked the temperature. It was about 100° (37° C). He was almost sweating just thinking about it.

Sonic picked up his phone and dialed Amy's number.

"Hello!" He heard.

"Hey Amy, I was just-" He was cut off by her continuing.

"I'm sorry, but I can't get to the phone right now. Just leave me a message and I'll get to it as soon as possible. Thanks."

Then he heard the automated voice telling him to leave a message at the tone. Voice mail...

He left a short message to inform her that the stuff was here and to meet him at his house whenever she could. Putting the phone down, he decided to play the Wii for a while until she made it over.

Right in the middle of his game, he heard a knock on the door. He called out to whoever it was to come in. As Sonic had suspected, it was Amy.

"Hey Sonic, sorry I wasn't at home a while ago."

"No problem."

Amy smiled and checked out what Sonic was doing. It was Wii Sports boxing.

"So Sonic, are we ready to get started?"

Sonic nodded and turned the game off and took a few waters from the fridge. He came back with three waters and a toolbox which he said he'd bought and stocked yesterday. With that they started on their walk to the land, making comments about the heat, which hadn't really let up in the hour and 25 minutes it had been.

Amy took a moment to look at all of the materials laid out for them and eyed Sonic suspiciously.

"Do we really know what we're doing?"

"It can't be that hard. The DIY instructions I read online gave me easy directions. Just follow my lead and we'll probably be done by the end of the day!" Sonic proclaimed.

~One Hour Later~

Sonic had bruises on his body and sweat was dripping from his forehead. His body was soaked and he didn't look so good. His cheeks seemed a little greener then usual. Then, he puked. Amy dropped what she was doing and looked away before her small meal came up as well.

"Man, I knew those chili dogs were not a good idea on a hot day like this," Sonic groaned. Amy sighed. "Can you hand me a water please?" Sonic asked, reaching his hand out from his spot on top of what he thought was a good foundation. Amy ran to where they kept the bottles.

"We're out!" she told him.

"Great! This couldn't get any worse!" Sonic exclaimed as threw his hands up for emphasis.

Amy then heard an odd sound. Before anything even happened, she muttered, "It just did."

And sure enough the foundation collapsed. Sonic cursed aloud about his luck not being there at all.

"Oh, Sonic, I just remembered! We didn't dig up for the basement. So this gives us the chance to!" Amy reminded him.

"Finally, something right happened today," he said from on the ground after the wall threw him off it.

Sonic said he was going to go back to his house to get shovels and more water. Amy tried to call out to him, but he was long gone. Amy put her head down and shook it in dismay, thinking about how clueless he was.

Some thirty minutes later he was back. He looked a lot better then he had when he'd left for his house. His face was cleaned up and his body wasn't drenched. He offered water to Amy. She took the bottle and started gulping it down.

"So," Amy started, "I don't quite think it went well."

"No," Sonic agreed, wondering where it all went wrong, "What do you do?"

Amy shrugged. Although Sonic had cleaned himself up, Amy was still a sweaty mess. She wanted to go clean herself up, but wasn't just going to leave Sonic to try and build the foundation himself. She asked him if he'd looked at any more instructions for building.

He shook his head.

"Well, we could always get someone to build the foundation for us. Then we could finish off the rest. I'd be happy to help pay for their services."

"I guess we don't have much of a choice here, do we?" He laughed, "I appreciate you helping out, but I can handle this myself."

Amy tried to argue her way into paying, but Sonic wouldn't allow it. In the end she had to give up and let Sonic get a guy to help them out.

Amy told Sonic she was going to go back to her house and take a shower. The blue hedgehog nodded and then ran off to his own place to call somebody. With frustration clearly in his voice from the unsuccessful day, Sonic got a guy for a relatively reasonable price. He said that he would be at his house within 72 hours.

Fustrated that it was going to take longer then he expected, Sonic took a seat and decided to call Amy. He got the message machine again and waited for the beep. "Hey Ames. Thanks for all the help you provided. Sorry it was all for nothing. I thought I had it all down when I didn't. The guy I called to get the job done is going to be a while," Sonic sighed, "Oh well. Guess you can't win them all. Hopefully I'll do better in the future. Bye."

Sonic took a minute to let it all sink in. The excitement of getting the nice plot of land, the true kindness of a friend in which he had rejected so many times before, the dismay of a failed project, the coming lack of what to do for the next couple of days, just trying to figure it all out. He tried to think of what to do tomorrow, but nothing came to mind. He'd just have to think of it when the time came.


	4. 18 Holes of Trouble

A big, black, pickup truck stopped in front of his house. Sonic got up at the sound of the brakes squeaking as the vehicle slowed to a halt. "Hey!" He called out as the man inside the truck rolled his window down.

"Hi, Drake here. You called me a couple days ago?"

"Yep. Thanks for making it out?"

"No problem. I'm here to build a foundation on your 5 point something acre lot."

Sonic nodded and looked into the back of the truck. There didn't seem to be anything in it. "What are you going to build it out of?"

"Had the materials dumped off earlier today?" The man smiled, "I can give you a ride if you want. I'm going to get started."

"OK, you can go ahead. I'll see you in a little bit. You know where everything is, right?"

The driver said yes.

"OK, then. As long as you don't mind working alone then I'll stay," Sonic said.

"No big deal. OK man, I'm gonna get going. See you."

The two exchanged goodbyes and the pickup truck started up down the road.

Right away the driver realized he was going the wrong way and turned around, waving to Sonic as he accelerated. After Sonic waved back he walked inside to call Amy. Smiling happily at what was going to be accomplished. The phone rang a few times before she picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hi Amy! It's Sonic."

"Sonic, hi! How are you?"

"Very good. The builder is working on the base right now."

"Great! I'll be right over. Bye."

Sonic said goodbye and hung up. Within a couple minutes Amy was in his driveway. Sonic smiled. The two exchanged hellos and how are yous before heading off to the construction site. Once there, they found the guy already hard at work. He seemed to be making some fast progress as well.

"Hey," he said upon realizing the blue hedgehog.

"Hi. How's it going?"

"Very well. Just getting this thing done one step at a time, you know? But wait. Who might this young lady be?"

"Oh, I'm Amy. Hi."

The man smiled and nodded at her. "Are you his girlfriend or something?"

Sonic blushed deeply and prayed she would answer correctly.

"Yes!"

Why? Sonic didn't know what to do now. It's not that he wasn't having a good time with Amy, but he wasn't ready to go as far as to say he was her boyfriend. Without wanting to upset Amy, however, he just sighed. Amy looked over at him with a glimmer in her eyes. Sonic shook his head but let it go for the moment.

"Why, can I help you?" Amy asked the builder.

"Nah, thanks though. Just found it interesting how he wanted to bring you over right away. I offered him a ride and he refused it to go get you apparently."

The glimmer in Amy's eyes returned and she eyed Sonic, "You did? Just for me?"

"Well," Sonic trailed off, "I'd uh... Forgotten my morning OJ."

"Come on Sonic. I know you don't drink orange juice. I've never seen it in your fridge," Amy countered. Sonic put his head down in defeat. Amy all of a sudden felt a ping of guilt hit her as she realized that she might have pushed Sonic over the edge just a bit.

"Oh Sonic, it's not a big deal. Nothing to be ashamed of." She ran over to him and took him into her arms, "Besides, just because you brought me over here, doesn't mean that you really like me that way, you know. Since we've been working on this house it only makes sense, really." She tried to comfort him.

Sonic lifted his head up and smiled a bit. "Yeah I guess your right."

Amy let go and asked him what he planned on doing.

"Well, if Mr. Uh, what's your name again? I forgot."

"Drake," he answered as he hammered in a nail.

"Oh, thanks. If Drake doesn't need us to do anything, then maybe we should go get a little breakfast. I didn't have any this morning."

Amy smiled and said she hadn't either. Then, Sonic asked Drake if he could do anything for him. The builder shook his head and went back to work. With that, Sonic and Amy decided to go to the breakfast place they had went to before for that brunch of theirs.

As their meals were cooking, Sonic explained to Amy what he thought would happen, but he didn't know what the process was exactly, nor how long it would take.

Otherwise, it was pretty quiet for a change. The only sounds that could be heard for about 15 minutes straight until their food came were Mother Nature's. Birds were chirping their loud, playful noises, owls were hooting and frogs were croaking from somewhere or another.

Sonic and Amy didn't once think about breaking the nice silence, though. They were content on listening to it all. Once their food came, however, it was time to get down to business. The hedgehogs hastily grabbed their fork and spoon and dug into their meals. With his mouth full, Sonic had asked what their plans were for after eating.

"Well," Amy started, but took a minute to swallow her bite. She also wanted to think through some of their options. "That builder didn't seem to need much help at all. So I don't want to get annoying and keep asking."

"I agree." Sonic gulped down his big bite, "I also don't want to just stand there and be a cheerleader, either." This one brought a light laugh out of Amy.

Finally, something seemed to click in her mind. "We could go to a museum. Always lots to see there!"

Sonic groaned and rolled his eyes. "Boring." He was never a fan of standing and looking at artwork, or what many museums had on display. It just wasn't his style. "Got a better idea?"

Amy again started to sift through her list of places to go. Obviously, number one was a cliff at sunset, but something told her Sonic didn't have much interest. But then something came to mind. It seemed perfect. She just hoped that Sonic would see the bright side of it. She waited to see what Sonic's suggestion would be. She really hoped he was thinking along the same lines so that she wouldn't have to turn his idea down.

When he finally answered he was off the mark. "The tennis courts are always open."

"Nah, maybe-" Amy started but was quickly cut off as Sonic continued.

"Golf. We've got the course right down the road. What do you say?"

Golfing didn't sound like an awful plan to Amy, but she still liked hers better. It wasn't that she was stuck on hers, but more that she would be happier if Sonic liked it.

"Good ideas, but you know, we could always go to the park?"

"Hmm, interesting, but I'd rather do something else."

"Alright, then golfing or tennis sounded good. Which one would you rather do?"

"I'm good with either one, you decide."

"OK, then how about a round of golf?"

"Great, sounds perfect. We'll go right after we eat!"

"OK! You sure you're not going to need a couple minutes to digest?" She couldn't help but giggle as Sonic shoved in the rest of his 7 pancakes into his mouth. His cheeks puffed out, but he looked up at her anyways and shook his head. Amy began to eat her waffle, with a couple to go still. "Well then, I'm gonna make you digest." She chuckled evilly as she slowly bit down on the waffle.

Sonic grumbled something incoherently as he impatiently tapped his foot on the floor. But after doing it for about thirty seconds he stopped and burst out laughing. "What's so funny Sonic?"

"Just laughing at myself. Have nothing else to do," He sighed and calmed down. Amy nodded and continued to eat, but now at a reasonable pace.

Pink finished about five minutes later and stood up. Sonic paid the bill and left a nice tip before leaving as well. They took off sprinting to the golf course, set in a quiet area. "Man, this is a cool spot out here!" Sonic said, taking in the fresh air of the golf course.

He'd never been in it, but merely seen while he was on a run of his one day. Since then, which was a month or two ago, he'd wanted to get out and was excited to be there.

While Sonic looking around, Amy scanned the area quickly as well, trying to figure out if she had seen it before. At last she concluded that she hadn't.

"Me neither."

"Well, let's go to the store and buy some golf clubs and then come back." Sonic turned, but Amy stopped him.

She hadn't been to the particular course they were at, but, from her experience at the couple other golf courses she had been to, she knew better then to just buy clubs.

"Sonic, just go into the little building there. You can rent, clubs, balls and anything you need to golf with."

"Oh, really? How do you know?"

"Cause I have golfed before, believe it or not," She smiled and looked Sonic down.

Right away it was obvious. He'd never been golfing before. She got excited a little by the prospect of being her hero's instructor if he needed one.

"OK, then let's go!"

Sonic began to think a little bit. After buying a large lot of land and then hiring a contractor to build it, he needed to take it easy on the spending. Thinking about what would be reasonable enough for him to buy and what was too much, he made his way in.

After making it inside the little structure, Amy stepped up to the desk. Sonic sighed in relief at not needing to spend the money, but also felt bad about the situation. He didn't want to have to practically beg Amy to pay for more stuff then she should. Seeing that Amy kne what she was doing, Sonic marched over to a vending machine and got a couple cheap waters.

Amy explained to the woman behind the counter that she was there with Sonic and that they would both like a set of clubs and balls. The woman handed two bags full of many clubs, 10 at least.

"Thanks," Amy smiled and picked hers up, also grabbing a bag of tees.

Sonic put two bottles of water inside his and two inside Amy's and took his bag. The two walked out and started making conversation on their way to the course.

"So," Sonic started, "what have you been up to lately?"

"I don't know. Up until a couple days ago when this house project started It's been a reasonably lazy last couple of weeks, which is why I'm excited to help you work on this house. But yeah, I guess some of that is thanks to the new Xbox 360, I've been trying that out, but still, I've had plenty of times where I could've chosen to go out and didn't."

"Fair Enough. I've been just about the opposite," he laughed a little, "Really busy couple of weeks for me, including a meeting about a law. I don't have any clue as to why I was needed, I swear, because the only thing I really had to say was 'yes.'"

Amy laughed at the thought of Sonic sitting at a meaningless meeting, saying nothing for the whole thing, and then in the last minutes, saying yes. "What do you expect? You're the hero!" Amy joked.

By then they had reached the opening tee.

"Ladies first." Sonic smiled.

The truth was he'd never been golfing before and he was hoping he'd figure out a lot based on watching Amy, who seemed to have been out to the course a couple times before. She stood still and looked ahead of her, eying the par 4 ahead of her. Taking, a deep breath she began her backswing, then started pulling the club back down. The club made contact with the ball and sent the little white object in the air.

"Wow, nice." Sonic let out, watching the ball sail through the air.

"Thanks," Amy smiled and saw it land on the fairway far way ahead of them, "Your turn."

Sonic took out the club, labeled driver, from his set in the bag. He pushed down his tee into the earth and then put a ball on top of his. He looked at the course, then his ball. He got set and pulled the club back, then with all the force he could muster pulled it forward. The only problem with the shot was that he missed, and he almost fell over doing it. That was embarrassing.

"That was weird." He shrugged and got back up to try again.

Amy was trying to contain her giggles, but it was difficult. He looked so unorthodox with his swing. He tried again. He took just as hard a swing and ending up missing again. Sighing, he decided to try a lighter swing. This one worked, but only went about ten yards in front of them before it hit the edge of the fairway.

"There you go Sonic! That was a nice shot." The hedgehog tried to encourage him. However, Sonic knew that it was really two misses and a pretty lousy shot.

They walked ahead to make their second shots. "Farthest back shoots first." Amy motioned towards Sonic's ball.

Sonic took the driver back out and got ready to try again. This time he made contact with his first shot, but the ball went straight into the rough and hit a tree. However, by some kind of miracle, it hit the tree's trunk and bounced right onto the fairway a reachable distance from the green.

Amy pulled out one of the irons and took the shot. The ball went up high, then came back down to earth, hitting the rough behind the green.

"Ah! Too much." Amy put the club back and walked towards her ball's location.

When Sonic got to his, he was ready to pick out a sand wedge, but realized something. He'd forgotten his clubs.

"I'll get them." He quickly ran back and got them. Sonic pulled out the sand wedge and got ready. His shot flew way deep and way right from where it was supposed to be. It landed in some pretty heavy rough. "Dang it."

Because his shot was behind Amy's, Sonic got the pleasure of going again. He got ready and swung. The ball went about five feet, getting out of the think grass and into the rough that wasn't quite as heavy.

Still, being behind the pink hedgehog's ball, he had to go again. This time his shot got him onto the green, but not quite as close to the hole as one would want. "Good enough, it's on the green."

Next was Amy's turn. She took out her small distance club and shot for the pin. Her swing looked good, the result was even better. The ball landed right by the hole, looking like it would turn out to be an easy putt.

Obviously, Sonic's ball was further and he got the pleasure of putting first. He took a good amount of time 'analyzing' the green and setting up his shot. By analyzing, he meant eating the grass, walking up and down his the green to figure out if there were any slopes, and some other shenanigans that I can't really explain. After it all he started to swing. The putt went forward, a dart right at the hole.

Clunk. Sonic put his hands in the air and took a bow. "Oh yeah!"

Amy laughed and allowed him to take his ball out before setting up for her easy putt. It went in with a similar clunking sound. She dropped the club and put her hands in the air, imitating Sonic. She took a bow. "There we go!"

Sonic laughed at the mock. "That was fun Sonic, I'll have to do it more often."

With that they made their way to the next hole, deciding against using a golf cart.

The day went by pretty fast as the two golfed it out. It was about 4 o'clock. However, they were worn out after their 18-hole round. They smiled to each other at the end of it. It was probably a good idea they didn't keep score, cause Sonic probably doubled her. But they had fun, and that's all that really counted.

"OK Sonic, thanks for the round, I had a great time," Amy smiled after they returned their clubs.

"Me too, I'm glad it worked out. I will be better next time, hopefully."

"Alright, I can't wait."

Sonic grinned.

"Well, I'm gonna go back to my house. I need to shower and clean myself up. I take it we'll just call it a night, eh? You won't come over to my place?"

"Nope, sounds good. I need to freshen up a bit, too." Amy smiled, "OK Sonic, bye."

"Bye, see you again soon!" Sonic took off.

Amy was left, standing there, in a daze. She couldn't believe it. Not just today, eating out again and playing golf, but the whole thing. She sighed dreamily and thought of everything that had happened, only to wonder what would happen next


	5. Shadow's Birthday

Amy smiled as she quickly put down a card. The pink hedgehog was enjoying spending the time with her hero. It was all she could dream of, really. They were the only two in the house, both enjoying the other's company. There didn't seem to be a care in the world. "I win." She chuckled and collected the deck of 52 cards.

Sonic started to think himself about the day as he watched the girl shuffle the cards.

Sonic and Amy had been at it pretty much the whole day. Amy decided to see what Sonic was up to in the morning. When she learned he had nothing to do, she asked if he wanted to play something together. He accepted and they agreed to play at his house. And that was the start of the time they were sharing. The two had played many games; cards, board and Wii.

Now, it was mid afternoon and the lack of a filling meal after breakfast was starting to show. Stomachs seemed to be growling every five minutes. Sonic was the first to actually say anything, though. "So, are you as hungry as I am?" Sonic asked as Amy dealt the cards out.

"I'm getting there."

"Alright," He said as his stomach roared hungrily, "If that doesn't let you know how hungry I am," He trailed off chuckling a little.

Amy laughed and looked up from her hand. She smiled and asked what he wanted to do.

Before he could answer the phone rang. "Maybe that's the guy I hired." He shrugged as he stood up to go get it.

"Hello?"

On the other end a feminine voice answered. "Hey, Sonic?"

"Rouge?"

"Yep, what's up?"

"Having a relaxing day here. You?"

"That sounds good. I'm setting up for the party." Sonic didn't remember anything about a party.

"What party?"

"Shadow's birthday is today! You didn't remember?"

"No, I've had a lot on my mind lately."

"Ah, fair enough. Well, I called to invite you over if you were interested. I'm thinking we're going to try and surprise him."

"Awesome!"

Rouge chuckled on the other end at her friend's enthusiasm. "So yeah, I tried to get Amy a couple times earlier today but I kept getting the message machine. I left one but she hasn't answered as she usually does. So, if you find her would you extend the invitation for me?"

"Sure."

"OK Sonic, thanks."

"No problem."

"So, will I see you tonight?"

"Yeah, it sounds good. When's it taking place?"

"Oh yeah, sorry. I've talked him into coming over to my place at 6 o'clock tonight. Personally I'm happy with the work, and I don't think he has any clue that I asked him for his birthday."

"Great! Well, I will definitely see you in a few hours then."

"OK, same here. Bye."

"Bye." Sonic hang up and turned to Amy.

"What was all that about?" She asked curiously.

"Shadow's birthday is today."

"Oh," Amy gasped, "I completely forgot."

"I know, me too."

"Yeah, wow. How did that slip my mind?" Amy took a minute to think, it never crossed her mind, "OK, so then, what do you want to do now?"

"First of all, how about we go get a bite to eat?"

"OK." Amy agreed as she put the cards back into their box and left them on the table.

"So, do you know where we're going for lunch?"

"I don't really care. I just need something in my stomach!" Sonic stated firmly.

Amy got the message and suggested they go to a diner that had pretty fast service along with good food. Without any protest, Sonic agreed and they headed out.

Over their meal, the two discussed the party and what they were going to do. "So," Amy said as she sipped at her drink, "I guess after this I'm going to go to my place and get a present for him."

"Good idea. I should probably do that, too." Sonic agreed as he made the mental note.

After that, the rest of the meal was followed with light conversation and plenty of eating. When they finished and Amy paid the bill, they said their 'see you's and all that before parting ways back to their homes.

Back at his home, Sonic flopped onto his couch as he began to think about what to get Shadow. Thoughts about what he had hinted wanting tried to make their way into his brain but couldn't. So then he thought of Shadow's likes and dislikes for an idea. "I got it! Man Sonic, you're a genius!" he suddenly exclaimed as he jumped up. With that he began the frenzy of getting it together.

And about 30 minutes later he was finished and had it wrapped up in a black and red box with a card tied to the outside. He smiled at what he thought was a good present for the hedgehog and set off to Rouge's house.

Along the way, about three quarters the way there, he met up with Amy. After saying hello, he asked about her present. "I bought him a ticket."

"What?" Sonic asked strangely.

"A ticket to a concert, silly!" She playfully nudged at his shoulder.

Sonic grinned and acknowledged that he was wrong. He kinda wondered why that one didn't cross his mind. "What'd you get?" Amy asked.

"Just a couple CDs of bands I found out he likes."

"We were thinking similarly." Amy giggled, "I think he'll like it. How do you know he likes them?"

"You can thank social networking sites for that. All I had to do was find his profile online and he had it spelled out what his favorite bands were." The two shared a laugh there and found themselves to be only a minute or two away from Rouge's house.

Sonic was first to knock. Rouge quickly opened the door. "Oh, how cute." She quietly said with a smile, "Hey, thanks for coming. I'm glad you could make it." She allowed them in.

They stepped in and didn't see anyone. Rouge noticed the curious look on both their faces and gave them their answer. "Behind the couches and such." 

"Oh." They both nodded and walked over to the furniture.

Sure enough they could see Knuckles, Tails, Silver and Blaze all lined up awaiting the dark hedgehog's arrival. Sonic and Amy got behind the couch as well.

About 30 minutes later it was just about six PM. The doorknob made a squeaky sound as it was turned. Then the creaking of an opening door made itself known, and when everyone was sure the door was closed and there was no escape, they all jumped just as he asked if there was anybody home. "SURPRISE!" They all shouted at once.

"Son of a... you almost gave me a heart attack!" Shadow snapped in shock.

Everyone laughed as Rouge showed him a picture of what he had looked like about a minute ago. It was pathetic. His eyes and mouth were wide open in fear. His nose was all scrunched up and you could tell he had his arms up defensively. One would think he was staring at a monster twice his size that he couldn't outrun. That's how scared he looked.

"Wow Shadow, you want a minute to clean your self up now that we've literally scared the crap out of you?" Rouge teased.

"Thank you, but I'm good." He laughed it off as if it were nothing.

None of the guests had ever seen Shadow that easygoing, and it was a real shock for them. Usually he was kind of to him self or he didn't talk much. But here he was playing, laughing, and having an all-around good time.

Sonic never thought he'd see his once fiercest rival laugh like that, but there it was. A genuine laugh from Shadow the Hedgehog. He flashed his counterpart a signature thumbs up, to which, also, for one of the first times, he answered and gave one back. In fact, after putting up one thumb up he put up another!

But after that the conversations shifted to other things, a lot of Shadow's likes. That's when Sonic was glad he had looked up that profile on him. He was actually able to follow what some of the things Shadow talked about were.

The party went on quite normally, actually. Everyone finished the dinner and then plopped onto the living room couch to watch TV. After a half hour or so of watching TV, they decided to let Shadow open his presents.

Everyone could tell he was pleasantly surprised by the fact that people bothered to get him gifts, as well as wondering what they were. One by one, he opened them. By the time he had opened everything but Sonic and Amy's, the two hedgehogs almost sighed in relief at not seeing duplicate gifts of what they had gotten. He picked up Sonic's first tapped it. It sounded hollow. He started to open the box and realized what it was. "Cool. I love these guys." He held up the three CDs that were in the box, "How'd you know, Sonic?"

"Cause sometimes even the Faker listens." Sonic chuckled.

"But I've never said anything about these particular bands to you."

"Oh, well, I guess I must've gotten lucky."

"Sonic," Amy rolled her eyes, "How about some truth. You looked it up on his profile."

Sonic chuckled a little at that before admitting he had gone online to figure it out. Shadow just smiled and shrugged it off. He looked over at the last present of the night. It was from Amy. He shook the box and tapped at it. But the gift itself didn't seem to make a sound. He was very curious as he started unwrapping the box and then opening it. When he saw what was in there, he couldn't help but let out a little smile. "Wow, awesome. Thank you Amy." Shadow said as he picked up the concert ticket.

"It was nothing really." Amy smiled, just happy that she could get the hedgehog something he liked.

Shadow took a minute to thank everyone again. After, Rouge, Blaze and Silver began to pick up the empty boxes and wrappers. When everything was cleaned up, Rouge turned some music on through her radio. "So, anyone up for a dance?" She suggested.

Knuckles walked up and grabbed her arms, trying to start dancing, but she wouldn't budge. "No, not you knucklehead, the birthday boy." She pushed Knuckles out of the way and motioned for Shadow to join her.

Quickly he accepted and the two began their dance together. Tails started dancing by himself. Amy looked at Sonic, hoping he'd offer a dance to her. "Hey Sonic, come dance with me!" Tails exclaimed.

"Sure bro!" Sonic grinned and made his way to the yellow fox.

There, they started a carefree dance of just moving their feet and holding hands. Amy giggled a little at how funny they looked. But then her smile turned into a frown when she thought about the fact that her opportunity was just taken away from her.

She started falling into a trance at the thought of her dancing with her hero. A dreamy sigh escaped her lips as she imagined what it would be like.

It left her unaware of Knuckles walking up to her. The echidna followed that by grabbing her hands firmly and pulling her out of her thoughts and into the dance she was forced into.

She tried to shake her hands free, but to no avail. "Knuckles, stop. I don't really feel like dancing right now."

"Oh, sorry. You just looked bored." Red let go of pink as the echidna walked over to the corner of the room and started listening to the music.

For the first time in what seemed like an eternity to him, Sonic was finally relaxing. His thoughts were not with the house at the moment. Or anything really. He just took a look at Tail's face as it glowed with delight. He laughed a little at how foolish he must've looked, but didn't really care. It was all about having fun then. And he was sure having that. He looked over and saw Rouge and Shadow enjoying themselves, as well as looking very graceful. He noticed Silver and Blaze together, enjoying their calm dance. And then he saw Amy. Amy was just standing there. "Hey Amy! Why don't you join us?" Sonic called out to her.

"OK." Amy walked over and joined them in... well, whatever they were doing.

And so quickly hours were danced away. Everyone was starting to notice the time. Silver and Blaze were the first to leave. Tails then excused himself from Sonic and Amy's dance to leave. It left the pink and blue hedgehogs with their hands linked together.

Sonic blushed a little and yanked them free. "I better get going now."

"Oh. Alright, I might as well, too, then."

"Alright. Well, I'll call you if the builder comes by tomorrow."

"Ok, thanks. See you Sonic. I had a great day today."

"Me too. It was very fun."

"We'll have to do it again sometime."

"You never know," Sonic said as he turned to leave, "Bye."

He waived his hand as he opened the door and left, shutting it behind him. Once shut, he made a dash for home, meaning he got there in less then a minute.

What a day.


	6. The Hangover

Sonic woke up; feeling all refreshed after his good night's sleep. He yawned and got out of bed, thinking of yesterday. It was a good day for him and he didn't regret a minute of it. Between Amy randomly going over to his place and the party at Rouge's, it had been a fine day. He checked the clock and got out of bed.

He brought out a cup of milk and started drinking it. He sighed and smiled and again, drifted into thought. This time a screeching sound awoke him from his daydreaming. He looked outside his window and saw the builder's truck right in his front yard.

He finished the milk and stepped outside.

"Hey Drake!"

"Hey man. Just came by to let you know I'm finishing up. We should be done in about thirty minutes to an hour, but no longer then that. You weren't expecting shingles on the roof or anything, were you?"

"No, I'll get to that."

"Alright, great."

"Did anyone help you yesterday?"

"Yeah, all three of em made it over. It's why we got done so fast."

"Yeah, pretty impressive. You finishing it up yourself now?"

"Yep, one man job from here on out. Alright, I'm not gonna keep you waiting any longer. I'm going to go finish this thing so that you have pretty much the rest of the day to do whatever you want with it. Should I call you when it's finished?"

"No, I'll be over. I'm just gonna finish up here."

"OK, you gonna bring your girlfriend over?" He asked.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Sonic snapped, as if Drake had been making fun of him, when reality he just asked an innocent, polite, question. However, the builder seemed to realize he'd hit a sensitive spot and was not offended.

"Hey, she's a great girl man, no shame in that," he chuckled.

"I know that! Just stop with this needless conversation."

"Alright, whatever," he laughed, starting his car back up, "All I'm saying is don't let a really good thing pass by."

He drove off, leaving Sonic to be all frustrated.

"Don't get all philosophical with me!"

But by then he had driven off and left his view, Sonic shrugged and let it be. He decided the comments were worthless and not worth taking to heart. He was enjoying being friends with Amy and wasn't about to let any silly construction worker ruin it. He went inside and dialed Amy's number.

She didn't answer the first time. He dialed again, hoping he'd just reached a wrong number. However, he got the message machine. He kept dialing a few more times before giving up for a couple minutes.

Then something occurred to him. Maybe he should just leave a message. He did so, leaving a quick 'hope everything's okay, I've got something to tell you' message.

He hung up and told himself he would sit on his couch for no longer then an hour waiting for her to return his call.

After about thirty minutes he could wait no longer. He contemplated his options. Either go over to her house and make sure everything was okay or call her again. He decided to call her again. Finally, she answered.

"Hello!" Her voice was anything joyous, as he had expected it would be.

There was grogginess, annoyance, and maybe even a hint of agony hinted within her voice. Even though she was obviously trying to hide it, Sonic could tell she wasn't feeling good.

"Hey Amy. How are you?" He asked, hoping she'd speak up.

"Fine," she blatantly lied, speaking very cautiously.

"Well, I just wanted to let you know that Drake finished building the base and that we're ready to work on it?"

"Ah!" She coughed, "Great! I'll be right- Never mind gotta throw up!"

The clanking sound, probably her dropping the phone, was heard followed by nauseating noises.

They were so bad, Sonic nearly gagged. By the time Amy got back on she said she'd be right there and sure enough the pink hedgehog was at his doorstep. Sonic was starting to think nothing was wrong, just her stomach bothering her.

But still, he was a little uneasy as he opened the door and welcomed her in. She looked anything but fine. She looked tired, exhausted and not to mention, sick to her stomach. There were dark rings around her eyes and something about her just screamed to Sonic, 'I'm not well.'

"Amy, you're not fine," Sonic firmly stated the obvious, "You're not coming with me this time."

"Sonic, I'm fine," she whined almost like a little child would to their mom.

"Not really." who says this line

He guided her dizzy, unbalanced body onto his couch.

"Tell me the truth, what's wrong?"

As if further proving Sonic's thought, she ran into the bathroom and promptly puked again.

"Man, that doesn't sound fine to me," He sighed and waited for her to get out.

The toilet flushed and she got out. She made her way to the couch and groaned miserably as she plopped onto it.

"OK Amy, tell me what is going on."

"Nothing, really. Just a little..." she trailed off.

"What?"

"Nothing at all."

"What the heck is it?" he said with a very stern face, pausing after each word for emphasis.

"Fine, I'll tell you. You know the party last night?"

"Yes, of course I do."

"Well, after you left, Rouge brought out a bunch of alcohol. I decided to stay for just a little bit longer. I had a couple drinks and didn't want to leave. This kept going on and on and I kept consuming more and more drinks. I don't exactly remember what happened because I got so wasted. All I really remember after all the drinks was waking up with a horrendous hangover."

"Yeah, that's not 'nothing,'" Sonic remarked, wondering what exactly he missed when he left early last night.

Amy sighed and agreed. She crossed her arms and tried to put on a pitiful face. Sonic couldn't help but snort at her attempt. However, her head was really starting to bother her and she took the face off, using her hands to grab it.

"Wow, how much did you drink?" Sonic asked as he took Amy into a slight embrace.

"Too much," She stated in a matter-of-fact way, "Way too much. I went with a couple of the easy stuff, but I think as the night went on, I got into the harsh stuff. It was awful."

"There's no need to worry," hsaid, letting her go, "Just relax today."

Amy tried and smiled weakly. She nodded and sat back onto the couch. She was trying to figure out what she was thinking and why she even got into the alcohol in the first place. She rarely had any anyways and even when she did, it usually was only just a little.

But last night she'd done it. She went way overboard and was going to pay a price. It was a very high price to pay; one that she wondered if she even deserved. But alas, it had to be paid and she was going to try and take it as well as she could.

Sonic looked at her. He opened his mouth to say something. He wanted to tell her he was going to go to the house and start work. Sighing, though, he didn't have it in him to leave at that moment.

"Sorry I can't help with the house," she said, as if reading his mind.

"Don't worry," he replied casually.

"Thanks."

"For what, I'm not doing anything," he said, surprised by her words.

"For being so caring and understanding."

Sonic blushed. He was just happy he could help a friend, especially when that friend was helping him as much as she was. It was really the least he could do.

"Your welcome... Oh, and you could stay over here for a little while if you want. I'm happy to help you in any way I can."

"Thank you so much Sonic. You really are a true hero."

Sonic blushed even deeper. He hoped Amy didn't notice, but he had more important things to worry about.

"Anything. Speaking of which, can I do anything for you?"

"No, not really. You can go work on the house if you wanted to. I'm good for a little bit. I'll just try to rest."

"Are you sure?"

Amy nodded.

"Well, alright then. Maybe I will," he said, going to the door, "If you need anything, just take. My fridge is pretty well stocked and I think you should be able to find something."

"Alright, thanks for everything. See you later."

"Alright! If you need anything, call me. Or, well, you can call someone to get a hold of me."

"OK, I will. Good luck."

He smiled and left.

As he ran to the house, he couldn't help but think of what exactly happened. He never knew Amy to be a big drinker at all. He only remembered seeing her have a beer at a celebration of something he had long forgotten by that time. The only other time he could remember was at that basketball game they went to a handful of months ago, where she had no more then two.

By the time he was getting deep into thought, he was there and shook it out of his head. He took a deep breath and viewed the large foundation to the house.

He decided he'd work his way down, starting with the roof. Right away it occurred to him. He was going to need roof-building materials. He also wanted shingles on the roof so he would need those too.

All of the aforementioned items were going to cost money, good money. Money he didn't necessarily have just lying around waiting to be used. He quickly remembered what he had in his account and how much he was willing to use.

"I'm gonna need some real cheap shingles," he said and sped off to the department store.

He got in and somebody asked if he knew what he was doing.

"I'm building a house. So I just had the foundation laid and now I need all the stuff necessary to complete the roof."

"OK, I think I may be able to help," the man said and lead Sonic down the store and into the roofing section.

"Do you know what you need?"

"Not exactly," Sonic answered honestly.

The clerk started to show the hedgehog all different materials.

It took them about thirty minutes, but they finished. That's when the big question came into play.

"So, how much does this all cost?"

"Hmm, well," the worker started, "All of that stuff. You're looking at about 10,000 mobians."

Sonic froze in his place. 10,000 mobians. All he had was about 6,500. There was no way he could afford it.

"Oh man, that's a lot."

"Yep," the guy agreed.

"I hate to say it, but I'm gonna have to pass on it this time."

The worker frowned, "You sure? You're gonna need a roof over your head."

"I know, and I'm sure. I just don't have the money."

He said goodbye and turned to leave.

All he could think as he approached the doors was 'what have I gotten myself into?' But for as far as he was now, he had no choice but to continue and so it came down to finding a way to make enough money to buy the supplies necessary.

Just as the door was shutting, he heard someone calling his name. He turned. It was the man he was talking with about the roof.

"You're Sonic, right?" He asked.

"Yeah." Sonic nodded.

"I hate to leave you empty handed like that. I think I can work you out a deal for all of those supplies. What do you say?"

"Ah, it's not worth it. I don't have anywhere near 10,000."

"I understand that, but I can try to work out a more reasonable price for you."

"Yeah, well I'd need such a generous deal, I wouldn't want to do it."

"Come on, you're Sonic the Hedgehog. You've saved so many lives and fought off Eggman for us so many times. It's the least I can do. You saved my daughter once!"

"Well, okay then, maybe we can work something out."

They walked back into the store and went to the cash register. There, the guy started the bargaining off.

"So, what's the most you can afford?"

"Only 6,500. I was hoping that roofing wasn't so expensive, guess I should've had more of an idea."

"No, it's okay. 6,500 is a fair deal. I think I can give you all the materials we talked about. Are you okay with that?"

"Yeah, you don't how much I appreciate it."

Sonic pulled out the money and handed it over. Then he and the worker went back into the roofing section to gather the building materials again.

Once they had collected it all, Sonic got set to take it with him.

"Thank you so much again. You really saved me."

"Don't worry about it, you deserve a break for all that you've done. Just, one favor,"

"Yeah?"

"Please don't let word of this out, I'd lose my job faster then you can run if my boss learns about it."

Sonic chuckled a little, "Alright, you have my word. Well, have a good day!"

He started walking out.

"You too, I hope the house looks good in the end."

Sonic took the supplies with him to the foundation of the house and thought, for a moment, about what he was going to do. Sure, last night he'd been online trying to find out how it was done. He also watched the TV with instructions on how to build a roof. So it's not that he didn't feel knowledgeable, it's that, now that he was standing in front of the house, it seemed like such an impossible task.

Pushing those thoughts to the back of his head, he took a deep breath and walked up to the roof with all the materials he needed to start with.

A couple hours in, he was still working on step one. He wiped some of the endless sweat off his forehead. It wasn't as hot as it had been recently, but it was still nice and warm, to say the least. It helped a little that the sun was behind the cloud at the moment.

But still, Sonic was laboring just to finish it. He looked up and saw all the unfinished work. He started to think about Amy. Right then he realized something. Without her this project was taking much longer, maybe twice as long! That and it was much more fun with her around. Here, he only had himself. He also didn't really feel like cracking any jokes to himself.

He tried to shake the thoughts off for the day, thinking that Amy would be ready tomorrow. That may have been true, but still, he couldn't quite stop that feeling. It really wasn't the same without her around. He started to wonder how she was doing at his place. He felt bad, for a moment, that he wasn't there to help her. He felt selfish leaving her in his place to deal with a bad hangover.

Then it occurred to him. With Amy it was a lot more fun and they got much more work done together. He dropped what he was doing, jumped off the roof, and ran back to his own house to see how she was doing.

Opening his door, he looked on the couch. Not there.

He checked his kitchen. Nowhere.

Then he checked the bathrooms. No.

Finally, he tried the bedrooms to see if she had decided to rest. But no, no Amy.

He was starting to get a little nervous. Where'd she go? Did she try to go to the doctor?

He thought he'd try her house just in case. He opened his door and slammed it behind him, taking off.

There, he knocked on the door. Sure enough, the pink hedgehog answered it.

"Sonic!" She squealed.

"Hi Amy. Why'd you come over to your house?" he asked as he walked in.

"I felt better, so I figured I might as well come back here!"

"Oh, good to hear," Sonic sighed in relief and sat down.

"So, can I get you anything?"

"Maybe just a water, I don't need much."

Amy went into her kitchen and brought out a water.

"I'm cooking dinner right now," she smiled.

"Cool, what are you making?"

"Not much. Just some soup. I'd be really happy if you'd stay and eat it with me."

"And I'd be happy to," Sonic nodded.

"Thanks."

"Don't worry about it. I'm sorry I didn't stay earlier to help you."

"That's not a problem."

With that, the two sat on the couch together and started talking about the day they had had. Sonic told her about the nice deal he had gotten and everything else. He tried to talk around the fact that he had stopped early pretty much just to see her.

The day went on pretty nicely, with Amy making a very good soup.


	7. Robbery

Her eyes opened. The sun didn't blind her, nor did her head hurt gruesomely as it had the morning before. She actually smiled. It felt good to be pain-free. She got out of bed with a hop and ran into her living room. Her first thought of the day was to call Sonic but refrained. She didn't want to wake him up!

Deciding to wait a little while until she called, she sat down and picked out a game to play.

Her phone rang about 45 minutes later.

"Shoot, not now, I'm right in the middle of a match!"

She sighed as she heard the guy on the other end of her headset asking her what was going on.

"Sorry, friend's calling. Gotta go."

"Alright, good game."

She turned the game off and ran to the phone just before it stopped ringing. "Hello?"

"Hey Amy."

It was as she had expected, Sonic. She started to clean up the Xbox 360 and put the game away while continuing the conversation.

"Hello Sonic!"

"I don't know about you, but I woke up on the right side of the rock. I'm ready to roll."

"Good for you. I'm ready whenever you are," she tripped over her console and fell down.

The Xbox made a 'clunk' sound when it fell onto the carpet of her living room. The game was tossed into the air and landed a couple feet in front of her.

"Is everything alright?" Sonic asked.

"I tripped over the Xbox, that's all. I'm fine."

"Can I believe you this time?" Sonic hinted a bit of sarcasm and followed the comment with a laugh.

Amy laughed and propped herself back up.

"No, the pain is excruciating. I need a hero to save me," she joked.

Sonic just laughed and hung up.

In seconds she heard her door open.

"I've come to save you!"

Amy couldn't help but laugh again.

"Oh Sonic! So, what's up?"

"I told you, I'm ready for a long day of work!"

"Alright. I am, too."

"So, shall we?" Sonic asked as he opened the door and ran out.

They arrived one after the other at the foundation in which Sonic had done some minor work.

"So yeah," Sonic said when they stopped, "I started the roof yesterday and bought a load of the supplies we needed."

"Really, a load of them?"

"Yeah, the guy that sold it to me said that based on the dimensions it would fill the entire roof."

"What supplies?" Amy looked around the yard.

"Well, those, right... Oh no. This can't be happening."

The materials disappeared.

"Oh my gosh, somebody stole it all."

Sonic quickly ran around the house. They weren't there. He knelt down in front of the house where he was sure he'd left them and knelt down. The poor hedgehog was just about ready to cry. Amy immediately ran over to comfort him.

"I know it isn't fun Sonic, but this kind of stuff happens, sadly."

"I spent just about all of my money on this!"

"Really?"

"Yes! Did you think that if I had all the money in the world I'd even hesitate to buy the land and put up a house? No! But because I have a pretty limited amount of spendable money, I can't just do that," Sonic snapped at nobody in particular.

He just had to let it out, especially cause he really wasn't about to cry in front of Amy. He just wouldn't allow himself to do it. He was a man, after all.

Amy shook her head in disbelief. Who would do such a thing? If it were a practical joke, she figured somebody would have told them by now. This seemed too much like the real deal. Amy sighed and thought of what to say next. She couldn't though. It was something that didn't bring words to mouth.

Just feelings of anger towards the culprit, whoever that may be.

"Well, now what do we do?"

"I don't even want to look at this house anymore. This project was a mess from the start," Sonic muttered gruffly.

It was obvious that he was as mad as anyone. It started out as just a dream. Then, when he bought the land, it seemed like such a close and reachable reality. And now the reality was again being snatched from his grasp just like that.

Amy sighed. What was she supposed to do? She couldn't just say, 'Let's move on.' That wouldn't be right. If she said that Sonic wouldn't think she cared much about the house. She kept quiet.

"So Amy, what do we do now?"

Amy didn't have much desire to suggest their next move. Yet, she had to say something now.

"Well, I know it's not as simple as going to the store and buying more. We could try and track down the culprit!" Amy exclaimed as if she were a genius.

"I have good legs, not a nose."

Amy laughed, taking it as a joke. Sonic seemed a little more serious than that.

"Oh come on Sonic, you've got to lighten up a little bit. Or else this will never get done."

"Oh really?" Sonic snapped.

Amy didn't want to answer.

Sonic's stomach rumbled.

"I'm hungry," He grumbled, "Let's go eat."

Amy couldn't help but let out a little giggle, but quickly agreed and asked where they were going to go.

"I don't have a clue," Sonic announced.

"OK, then we can go to the Rise and Shine, the breakfast place I've been telling you about for the past two months."

"Whatever. Let's go."

Amy led Sonic to the big building. It's size surprised the blue hedgehog who was expecting a small building that looked like the roof was ready to cave in. This place, however, was a big, nice place.

They walked in and were greeted by a waitress standing right in front of them.

"Two?" she asked.

Amy nodded and the two were quickly led to a small booth table. Sonic sighed as he sat down. The two read through the menus and ordered their meal when their waiter came over.

After that, though, it was down to business. The discussion about what to do about the mysteriously missing materials began.

Both Sonic and Amy began talking about what they thought could be done, although Sonic seemed to complain a lot more then actually try to resolve the problem.

"But really, are you kidding me? Is this really what has to happen, this disgusting..." Sonic trailed off as he realized the waiter had come with their food.

"Is there something wrong with the food?" the waiter asked.

"No," Amy replied, "We're talking about something else."

The waiter shrugged and walked off and the two began to eat.

"Maybe we could call the police?" Amy suggested in the middle of their meal.

"Good idea!" Sonic said with a full mouth, swallowing, "Why haven't we thought of that yet?"

So, it would come down to the police in the end. Would they save Sonic and his materials, or is it all just a lost cause?


	8. Eggman

"Ho ho ho ho ho!" Sonic snapped his neck back and turned around.

What he saw was something nobody would want to see after a big meal. It was a huge flying machine. Stemming from the nose of the aircraft were two signature red bushes. This could only mean one thing.

"Eggman! Why you?"

Sonic had just left the restaurant. He and Amy agreed on going to his place to call the police and get them on the robbery of his materials.

"Missing something?" Eggman chuckled and turned the ship around.

A window slid open and revealed exactly what had been causing the hedgehog so much trouble for the most of the day; it was the roofing materials. Even before Sonic could react the window shut. The hedgehog knew what it called for. He was going to get his supplies back whether he had to fight Eggman or not.

Turns out he did. Below his mustache a mouth appeared and opened up. A missile came flying out at a high speed. Sonic quickly grabbed Amy and ducked himself and her to the side as the missile exploded.

"That was close Sonic! But I haven't even scratched the surface with what this machine is capable of!" Eggman stated from his open cockpit.

He shut it right after with something that looked like really strong glass. He fired another missile. Sonic dodged again and looked back at Amy.

"Go home! I've got this taken care of."

"No Sonic, I'm staying. Just in case you need help."

Sonic dodged another missile. "Look, I can handle this. I just wouldn't want you getting hurt."

"Come on Sonic, it wouldn't be the first time we've faced Eggman together. Don't you think I can hold my own?"

"Yes, I know you can. It's just that... Well, it's just that if you get hurt, I'll never forgive myself."

Amy sighed. "Alright Sonic, fine. I'll just go back to my home."

The pink hedgehog shook her head. She wanted so badly to stay and to help him. She also, on the flipside, wouldn't want Sonic getting hurt and would never forgive herself if she wasn't there. She ran back to her home, wishing Sonic good luck.

"Thank you."

Now it was back to business. Sonic stared the flying vehicle down.

"Hey Sonic, take a look at this!"

Something went flying up from the top. It was small, black and round. As it was coming down, Sonic realized it to be a cannonball. Instead of running, he reached his hands out and caught it.

"You have been caught!"

Sonic chucked the ball at Eggman's machine. It exploded on contact and shards of metal broke off and fell to the ground.

"Hahahahaha! Was that supposed to hurt?"

Though a little metal was removed, it didn't look like he did much damage at all. Two cannonballs were fired as well as a missile.

Quickly, Sonic dodged the missile, but when he looked up he'd lost the cannonballs. Finally he found them. They were nowhere near hitting him and exploded on the ground in front of the hovering machine.

"Wow Eggman, this is sad. Where's all that new stuff you wanted to use?"

Dr. Eggman growled and did something. A chain came zooming out and attempted to wrap Sonic up. It missed; Sonic jumped over the chain, but grabbed it. Taking his end he tied it to a tree in the area.

Eggman pulled back to try and break loose. He did successfully, but the tree was then launched right in his direction. The ship ducked under it and let the chain go. The tree went flying behind them.

The mustache started acting weird and moving, turning in Sonic's direction. Suddenly bullets erupted from it and the hedgehog found a rain of lead flying at him. Swiftly, he dove out of the way and the bullets all hit the ground.

"You know I'm faster Eggman! Just give up."

"Never! Not until I've shown you what this baby can truly do."

Sonic was starting to wonder about this. What kind of new tricks did the old doctor have up his sleeve?

Eggman laughed from his cockpit.

"I've devised a way of... Slowing you down?"

The flying machine started to freak out, buzzing loudly and shaking violently. Then it gave off a strange vibe.

Staring at it as he tried to figure out what was going on, he suddenly thought.

"I gotta look away!"

Just as he came to the realization that, it hit him; too late. He couldn't bring himself to turn his head. Before he knew it, he collapsed on the floor and started snoring.

"Ha! The hedgehog's helplessly hypnotized! Whenever I choose to wake him up I can do whatever I want!"

Eggman pressed a button and a hand extended from the side of his ship. The hand scooped up and held onto Sonic.

Eggman began thinking. What did he want to do with the hedgehog that had haunted him day and night for so many years?

"I know!" Eggman clapped his hands together as his eyes twinkled with a cruel glimmer. He pressed a button. The back of his machine rumbled a little. A door opened up and out came a small bed. "Time for some... surgery," Eggman placed the hedgehog on the bed.

He saw his control panel. He could do anything he wanted to kill Sonic. What was most important was taking his time to enjoy the experience of finally defeating his rival. He brought out a blade and it began to lower itself, ready to chop Sonic in two. The blade inched closer to the oblivious, peaceful hedgehog.

"Sweet dreams."

The blade was all but touching him. It trimmed one of the spikes on his back in half. Then it gashed Sonic's back and a spurt of blood came gushing out.

Eggman watched the event unfold, enjoying it immensely. But then the machine grumbled and shook slightly. Eggman shrugged.

"Weird."

He went back to watching the death of Sonic. "Wait! What? How? What happened?" Eggman shouted in dismay.

To his disbelief the blade had been taken off from the mechanical hand it was attached to. He rolled down his cockpit window. There, in front of him stood Amy. She was holding her hammer and scowled at him. Her eyes were filled with such a sense of rage, and worry, that even Eggman couldn't believe it.

"What were you doing to Sonic?" She shouted enraged.

Eggman quickly composed himself and just smiled. "Why I killed him of course."

"You!" Amy screamed, "You beast! You killed Sonic!"

Even Eggman was a little intimidated now. He'd never seen the fire in her eyes that he did now.

"I prefer to call myself a genius."

"Who cares what you call yourself. You're a no-good madman bent on killing a single, little hedgehog! Not to mention he means the world to me!"

"First of all I'm bent on revenge. Second of all I want to kill you all."

"This conversation," Amy picked up the blade that she broke off, "Is over!" She threw it like a frisbee at the apparatus Eggman was driving.

He gulped as it hit. Not only did it hit, it shred the metal. Eggman right away realized it had hit the engine as well as all of the other important parts to that kept the ship running.

"No!" He bellowed, "You evil," A boom went off from the machine, "No-good," Another boom, "Please KS100, let me finish before you blow up. Anyways. You evil, no-good, son of a-" Before he could continue the machine exploded and Eggman was sent flying, as well as Sonic.

"Sonic!" Amy shrieked as the unconscious body started its descent.

Quickly she ran under it, dropped the hammer, and got ready to make the catch. She caught him, but then yelped in the pain of catching the hedgehog by his sharp spines. She sighed in relief of not dropping him.

Now, Amy didn't have time to be mad at Eggman or watch him soar out of sight, or to observe the remains of the machine crumble. She had a mission. As quickly as she could, she ran home. Once she got there she kicked down the door. She got to her couch and laid Sonic down on his back.

Her hands was covered in blood. "Whoa."

She turned his body around and saw the cut Eggman had given him. "He cut him deep."

She quickly ran and brought a roll of paper towels with her. Taking one out, Amy began to wipe the surface blood away. Then she noticed that he was missing one of his back spines. She brought out her first aid kit and found the bandages. Taking them, the hedgehog wrapped up the wound.

"Sonic?" She whispered in his ear, hoping he'd wake up.

He didn't even move. "Sonic?" She tried again, tears now forming. Nothing.

"Sonic?" She said, louder now.

Tears started falling from her eyes, dripping from her cheeks. Still, he didn't show any signs of life. "Sonic!" She screamed now, desperately.

She shook his body violently, without any results.

The thought that he was really dead was starting to sink in. Tears were now endlessly streaming down her face. She couldn't take it. A life without Sonic would be agony.

"Sonic? Please, wake up! You're not dead!"

She turned him around and looked for a heartbeat. No chest movement. She felt all of his vital areas. Nothing encouraged her. "Oh my gosh, Sonic no!"

Without even thinking, her head closed in and kissed his cheek.

"This life is a fairytale, right?"

Sadly, it wasn't. Nothing changed. Sonic, or at least the body that used to be Sonic's, was just laying there. Motionless, there wasn't a sign of life to be seen.

Amy broke down. The tears were now waterfalls. She put her head in her hands. It was impossible to comprehend.

Sonic? Dead? They didn't go together at all.


	9. The Next Day

Slowly, one eyelid rose. It was dark all around him. His body ached, but he felt his body. He would've touched his skin and fur had his arm not been too sore to move. Was he really... alive? It wasn't exactly comfortable, but he turned his head.

The area around him resembled Amy's house. Could it really be?

He snapped open his other eye as he slowly adjusted to the darkness of the room. He knew he would almost certainly die at some point in the near past, but he couldn't put a finger on exactly what happened. He tried to push the memories too him, but it hurt, ultimately giving him a big headache in the end, not memories. On second thought, he didn't think he really wanted memories of suffering, at least not then.

Forgetting about it all, he focused on what matter most at the moment. The fact that he was alive and breathing again. A smile formed on his lips. It felt good.

He lifted his head up without moving a limb and looked to his right. There stood a pink body. If only his arms weren't in such bad shape, he would've touched her face. Her breathing was slow and she wasn't moving. He realized she was asleep.

Her face was wet though, probably from tears. Her hands were bloody, but why? Was she alright? He wondered. He prayed she wasn't as badly wounded as he was. When she didn't awake, it was starting to alarm him. What happened to her? He didn't even know what had happened to himself, how could he know about her?

He tried not to worry about that at the moment. All the thinking just made his head hurt whenever he tried. He just wanted morning to come already, that way hopefully she'd wake up.

It was overwhelming. He was overcome with joy. With nothing else to do, he just broke down, and cried.

-The next morning-

She came awake with a jump as her dream ended. Her eyes opened and she realized the sun was up and the birds were singing. It seemed like a nice day, but it wasn't. It just wasn't. It was all because of the hedgehog behind her.

The hedgehog who changed her life so much just by being a part of the world just radically changed her life again by leaving it. She put her head down and sobbed, which turned into a hard cry.

Minutes later, she sniffed and propped herself up. She turned to the resting hedgehog on the couch.

"Sonic..."

She leaned her head in and placed a kiss right on his lips, something she'd always wanted to do to Sonic, although she would have preferred it to be while he was alive and feeling. The blue hedgehog's cheeks turned a deep red.

She collapsed next to the couch again and began to cry. All the painful memories from being told to save herself to when she thought it would be a good idea to go back out and see if everything was OK. It was all her fault. She was too late. And now she had to face the consequences; a life without Sonic the Hedgehog.

While she was crying, she didn't notice the couch shaking a little or the head behind her that rose up. She didn't even notice it speak.

"Amy!" it coughed weakly. "Amy! Amy!"

She felt something bump into her back. She looked behind her quickly. She must've been feeling things. Sonic's body was still motionless behind her. She went back to crying.

"Amy!"

"Sonic. It's just not fair. Why did you have to leave? Why couldn't it be me? At least then there wouldn't be heartbreak and there would still be the hero. It's just not fair!"

"Amy."

"Why Sonic?" She thought for a moment and then it occurred to her, "Wait, Sonic?"

She whipped her head around. There, right behind her, was Sonic. He had propped himself up and had his trademark smile on.

Wait a minute; was this really happening?

Amy was in disbelief. She couldn't control herself at all and launched her body into his, grabbing him into a big hug. She gripped tightly, not allowing herself to let go again.

Maybe life wouldn't be so miserable after all.

"Sonic!" She cried into his chest.

Meanwhile Sonic was hurting from the contact he just endured, not that he really minded it. But now he was suffocating.

"Eh! A-Amy, l-l-let g-go!"

"Oh..." She released him from the bear hug, "Sorry." She blushed.

"Sonic," She had to ask him, "Are you really alive? Or are you just a figment of my imagination?"

"Well, am I?"

Amy let her tears of joy drip down now.

"How did you survive?"

"You."

"Me?"

"You must have saved me. All I remember was fighting Eggman. Then I woke up late last night and realized I was all bandaged up. It hurts though, so go easy on me for today, OK?"

Amy nodded. She couldn't even begin to believe what was happening.

"Do you want to watch TV or something?"

"Sure, that works."

Amy picked up her remote and turned the television on, bringing a chair over because Sonic was laying on the entire couch. It started on the news.

"And reports from multiple sources have come in that Sonic the Hedgehog is dead. Sources say that Dr. Eggman defeated the heroic hedgehog during their last fight, in which he sliced through Sonic's back," the reporter took a long, solemn pause, "Rest in peace, Sonic the Hedgehog. And thank you for all that you have done for us."

"Hey! I'm alive!" Sonic screamed at the TV.

He jumped up and started to run, but only got about 2 feet before he collapsed in pain. He groaned and rolled over onto his back.

"Sonic! You can't move around yet. Give your body some time to heal."

Amy shook her head and picked him up, carefully placing him back down on the couch.

"Thanks."

"No problem. You know, if you want, we can tape a quick video and send it in to the news so that they know you're alive."

"Yeah, that'd be great! That way none of my friends worry in case they've seen anything."

"Alright, I'll go get my video camera."

She ran up her staircase. By the time she'd gotten down, her phone rang.

"One minute, I'll answer it," Amy said and picked up the phone, placing it by her ear.

"Hello? ... Oh, hey Tails, what's up? ... Sonic? He's alive actually. ... Really. ... I know, it's unbelievable. ... What? Oh, okay, sure."

Amy handed the phone to Sonic, "It's Tails."

"Hey buddy!" Sonic squeaked weakly.

"Yeah, I'm doing alright. ... I'm staying at Amy's house right now. ... Oh definitely, I just need a couple days, then I'll be all better. ... OK, bye."

Sonic gave Amy her phone back. Amy picked the video camera back up and asked if Sonic was ready. He smiled and said yes. She began recording him.

"Hey everyone!" he put up two fingers in the peace sign, "It's me Sonic. Just want you to know I am alive and doing well. I'll be out of action for the next few days, but I'll be perfectly fine. I am right now. OK, that's all I wanted to say. So there, take that Eggman, you can't stop me. Oh, and hello to all my friends!"

Amy stopped the recording. She explained to Sonic that she was going to upload the video and email it to the news station. The phone rang again.

"Can you reach it? It's probably for you anyways," Amy said.

"Yeah."

He picked it up and answered.

"Hello? ... Yeah it's me. ... Yes, I'm still breathing. ... Knuckles, calm down. Take a deep breath. ... I am fine, OK? ... Alright, the question now is whether or not you'll be OK? He laughed jokingly. ... Alright. ... Amy's house. She's been nice enough to take care of me, I really owe her one."

Amy, who was overhearing the conversation, couldn't help but well up with joy hearing that.

"OK, bye Knucklehead," he laughed and hung up. Amy walked back into the room.

"OK Sonic, I sent the video out." They should get it real soon now."

"OK, thanks a lot Amy. For everything you've done."

"You're very welcome Sonic, don't mention it."

Sonic sighed. It was good to be alive.

"This breaking news just in!" the news reporter said, her eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets, "Sonic the Hedgehog is alive. I repeat Sonic the Hedgehog is alive. The speed demon, who was thought to be dead by many sources, is officially alive and resting in a close friend's house. Here is footage taken by Amy Rose."

The screen turned to Sonic's smiling face.

"Hey everyone!" He put up two fingers in the peace sign, "It's me Sonic. Just want you to know I am alive and doing well. I'll be out of action for the next few days, but I'll be perfectly fine. I am right now. OK, that's all I wanted to say. So there, take that Eggman, you can't stop me. Oh, and hello to all my friends!"

Everyone, the cameramen and all, were cheering loudly in the background, chanting Sonic's name.

"How? It's not possible!" Doctor Eggman snapped. He threw his high-tech remote at the huge TV screen and it buzzed a couple times before exploding and shutting down.

"It can't be true! How could he possibly survive. My blade had cut through him deep!" Eggman fell to his laboratory floor.

"I'll get you yet Sonic the Hedgehog!"


	10. SURPRISE!

Amy sat back down on her chair as they watched the news alert of Sonic being alive.

"It's fun hearing that, isn't it?" Amy said, talking about the cheering in the background.

"Definitely humbles a guy," he smiled.

The pink hedgehog picked her remote back up and changed the channel to a sports station. They were talking about Sonic as well. She flipped channels to the cooking channel. Even they were talking about Sonic. Amy turned the television off.

"Wow, talk about breaking news," she laughed and stood up. "Are you hungry?" she asked.

"Nah," he shook his head.

"OK," Amy responded, "Well, I think I'm going to go cook myself something."

As if further proof were necessary, the pink hedgehog's stomach roared with the ferocity of a lion. Sonic chuckled a little bit as Amy walked off.

Amy opened her fridge and pulled out leftovers from one of her meals with Sonic. As she placed it in the microwave, she began to drift off into her own thoughts.

One second Sonic was all but dead. It was then that she truly realized that Sonic meant more to her then a crush. The feelings she had for him were more mature then that. If only he knew... If only he felt the same.

Interrupting her thoughts, she heard her door swing open and hit the wall.

"Surprise!"

On the couch, Sonic cringed. He had no idea what was happening. His first thought was that Eggman was invading to finish him off. He got ready for the bullet or whatever would happen to come next, but...

No bullets; nothing lethal. He opened his eyes from his cringe.

"Oh," he noticed Knuckles and Tails.

"Knux? Tails?" he said slowly.

"Yeah! Come on bud, we couldn't not have a party when we caught news of your survival!" Knuckles exclaimed excitedly.

Sonic smiled.

"Awesome. Thanks for coming guys. Just, can't move much for a little while."

"Well, I kinda figured that," Tails said, "But we can still have plenty of fun."

Knuckles and Tails shut Amy's front door. The pink hedgehog, scared witless, marched in, asking, "What is going on in..."

She trailed off when she saw Knuckles and Tails.

"Did you just barge into my house?" she shouted at them, drawing the piko piko hammer.

"Oh no," Tails gulped.

Amy started chasing the two around the house. Sonic tried to call out her name and tell her to stop, but she couldn't hear him. Then, there was a loud bang. Knuckles came stumbling down the stairs.

"I'm good," he said with a dazed expression on his face.

"Really?" Sonic asked. Sure enough, the echidna collapsed on floor in front of the couch Sonic was on. "Thought so," Sonic laughed. Still, Amy was chasing after Tails who was running all over the place. Sonic was cheering for the two-tailed fox. "Come on Tails! You can do it!"

Sadly, it only went on for another few seconds before the second bang was heard, followed quickly by a third. Tails came staggering into the living room, a big goofy smile plastered onto his face. "Wuh heppend? Ah don feel so good," Tails said, dazed and confused.

He promptly fell right onto Knuckles, who gasped a little at the sudden weight on his stomach. Next to come in fumbling around was Amy.

"Amy? What'd you do, beat yourself in the face?" Sonic asked.

"Think so," she said and fell down, right onto Sonic.

The blue hedgehog groaned in pain as his already-weak body just became weaker. That was painful.

"A-A-Amy! Get off!"

By then he was gasping for breath, but Amy wouldn't come to. He struggled for breath for the next handful of seconds before Amy finally woke up.

"Get! Off!" he shouted, about as blue in the face as his fur was.

"Oh, sorry," Amy smiled sheepishly and stepped off of him.

She didn't realize that Knuckles and Tails' knocked out bodies were right below her and stepped on them. This woke the two up and everyone was up again.

"Alright boys! I need a good explanation," Amy pulled out her mallet again, "Why are you here?"

"To party," Knuckles responded simply.

"To party?" Amy repeated.

"Yeah, you know. Dance, sing, celebrate, have a good time? Ring a bell? For Sonic being alive," Knuckles explained.

"Oh, now I get it. You should've told me you were just coming to party!" Amy laughed and put the piko piko hammer away, "Do you know how much you scared me?"

"Lighten up," Knuckles shrugged it off, "Besides, didn't you hear us yell, 'surprise?'"

"No."

"Oh gosh," Tails sighed and threw his head back. The house wasn't that big, was it? After their discussion, the four decided to continue on like it were a normal party. Soon after, Knuckles came up with a brilliant idea.

"I think we should invite more people over."

"Are you certain, Knuckles? This house is only so big," Amy questioned him.

"Of course! I'm not worried."

"Yeah, but I wouldn't want everyone making a mess of the house," Amy said worriedly.

"Don't worry, we'll keep this house squeaky clean!" Knuckles reassured.

"Are you sure?"

Knuckles smiled and nodded honestly.

"Well, alright then," Amy sighed.

Knuckles grinned widely and picked up her phone. He got Rouge, Shadow, Silver and Blaze to come over. He also invited Jet, Wave and Storm, but they said they were busy. Happy with himself, Knuckles put the phone back.

To say the least, she was nervous about the prospect of a party being held in her house. Especially before she had set stuff up. Also, Sonic was basically immobile, so how would he truly be able to participate?

Shortly after, the door started receiving knocks. Silver was the first to arrive and Blaze was with him.

"Hello you two. Thanks for coming," Knuckles ushered the guests in.

Silver and Blaze walked over to Sonic, who was sitting upright on the couch.

"Hey tough guy. Way to hang in," Silver gave Sonic a nice handshake. Blaze smiled warmly and said,

"I can't believe it. I heard all of the reports. Truly amazing."

"Thanks guys."

"So, how much time do you think you need to heal?" Silver asked.

"Oh, I don't know. My guess is about two, maybe three days."

Silver nodded and said hello to Knuckles, Tails and Amy. Blaze stayed with Sonic.

"So, do you remember much?"

"What?"

"From everything, you know, what happened yesterday?"

"No. Just know I started fighting against Eggman."

"I hate it when that happens, forgetting stuff like that."

"I like it!" Sonic laughed, "Who would want to remember nearly dieing?"

Blaze shrugged. She smiled and moved over to Silver. Sonic sat back and watched it all start to unfold. Soon after, Rouge arrived; following about 15 minutes later was Shadow, filling up the house.

Sonic watched everyone having a good time as he answered the questions Rouge and Shadow asked him, which were the same as Silver and Blaze's. Sonic began to wonder, why did Knuckles want to have a party? It's not like he could do anything. He thought that a party sounded fun, but maybe two or three days later when he had healed. Not when all he could do was sit lazily on the couch.

It was a reasonably standard party. Everyone was talking, watching TV and generally having a good time. Rouge and Knuckles became noticeably irritated at the lack of alcohol at the party.

"Amy," he walked over to the pink hedgehog after everyone had arrived, "Do you have anything to drink?"

"Sure. Soda? Water?"

"No, more like beer."

"No, I don't have any, sorry."

Knuckles sighed at this. Without even asking for permission, the echidna announced to everyone he was going to the grocery to buy beer.

Hearing this, Amy set out on the offensive. She picked up her hammer and ran up to Knuckles just as he laid his gloved hand on the doorknob. "Don't you dare!"

"Why not?" Knuckles shrugged.

"Because I don't want my house turning into a nightclub," She explained somewhat softly, trying to stay calm.

"What's so wrong with that? I think it'd be fun," Knuckles replied simply.

"You don't get it, do you? I don't want you guys being around here drunk and ruining my house."

This time Amy snapped. Knuckles was pushing her just a bit too far and she'd reached her limits.

"Whoa, who said anything about getting drunk?" Knuckles asked.

"I know what happens! I'm smart enough to realize!" she spat.

"And you really think we'd ruin your house?" Knuckles asked, sounding offended.

"I have my doubts," Amy said and shoved Knuckles's hand off the doorknob.

"Ooh," he mocked, "I'm so scared."

Amy swung the hammer and hit Knuckles square on the head. Right around where the first one hit him. "I'm still not scared," Knuckles collapsed.

"Well your down!" Amy said harshly and walked back to the couch Sonic was sitting on.

The blue hedgehog was just sitting there. He had a look of confusion on his face. Before he could say anything, Blaze approached Amy.

"Whoa Amy... What was all that for?"

"What?" She answered.

"You do realize what you just did, right?" Blaze cocked her head towards the door.

"Uh, yeah. Knuckles wanted to get everyone all drunk and wild. I won't have that in my house."

She responded promptly, still fired up.

"So? You don't know his intentions. Couldn't he have simply just wanted to have a good time celebrating the fact that Sonic was alive? He never clearly mentioned getting drunk, did he?" Blaze mentioned thoughtfully, "I understand your view. I also understand you've been alone and in the dark with the whole situation yourself. I know all the bottled up emotions that must've come out, but was it really right to just take it out on Knuckles like that?"

With the truth out, Amy was brought to tears. The pink hedgehog couldn't do anything but sob uncontrollably into the cat's shoulder. Knowing this would probably happen, Blaze just rocked back and forth as she tried to comfort Amy.

Sure, Amy felt like a moron breaking down in front of everyone like that, but she couldn't help it. Everything Blaze said was true, and it hit her hard. Almost as hard as the hammer she had just lowered onto Knuckles' head. She was scared being alone with Sonic. She thought he was dead, for goodness sake! Who wouldn't be scared?

Then the regret hit her. She did take it all out on Knuckles, didn't she? He never really did anything wrong, at least not knowingly. She never said anything about her problem with drinking after how drunk she got at Rouge's house on Shadow's birthday. Why did feelings have to be such a difficult thing?

She sniffled and lifted her head to the warm and forgiving faces of everyone in the house. Even Knuckles didn't seem mad, although he wasn't as happy as everyone else either.

"I'm sorry Knuckles." She choked a bit, sniffling again, "I lost control."

Knuckles took a moment. He finally said, "Forget about it."

"Thank you." She said quietly and stood up.

"Alright! Well, we still have a party to celebrate, right?" Knuckles asked and cheers broke out.

The house, once again, turned back into a fun place. Conversations and stories were again being told, most of which revolved in some way around Sonic. Everyone was letting loose and enjoying.

After another half hour or so of talking, everyone began snacking. Amy broke out a bunch of sodas and water and brought out a couple bags of chips she had.

As Sonic watched everyone eat, he tried to think of some way to stay involved in the party. Out the corner of his eye he noticed the Xbox 360 Amy had. He smiled and thought for a second, then suggested playing it.

"You know, I can move my fingers," he joked.

The focus in turn shifted to playing multiple video games from Mortal Kombat to the various Arcade games Amy had.

The house had truly become the place to be.


End file.
